through the seams
by CRXSSFIRED
Summary: Keep your eyes & ears open for second chances. Do you understand?
1. For the Readers

_*** mutato nomine de te fabula narratur **_

**(** _change but the name, and the story is told of yourself _**. )**

* * *

**NOTE: **This takes part years after Persona 4 & a year before Persona 5. This is to clarify the time shown in the novel. There will be shipping, but I haven't really thought about which character would be together yet. My apologies. Canon individuals will be featured quite often into '_through the seams ._' However, some will show up with headcanons. If you disapprove of any of the future preferences, please respect the writer's choices and move on. There are also several Demons in here that will become some of the OC's Personas. Please don't worry about it.

**RATING: ****M.** There will be depression, sexual themes, self-harm, drug abuse, etc. If you are not a fan of such, **_do not read this fanfiction. _**Thank you.

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own any of the canon characters, except for my own plot & characters. ATLUS produces most of the Demons & original concept of _Persona_.


	2. Rolling Dream

**SHE AWAKENS TO THE SOUND OF CHIMES.**

Hazel-brown orbitals fluttered to open slowly, soon gazing upon the black, obsidian surface. Ayame Chouzaburou's petite frame rocked from side-to-side as the transportation continued to move along the bumpy tracks. Her head lifted, witnessing a clear reflection of herself from the door's windows. Beyond the glass, flashes of lights flickered every time the subway passed through the tunnels like strobe lights of downtown Tokyo.

Still in this dainty, new, school uniform & the same, dull eyes. Nothing changed about her, but more about this _place_.

"… ?"

The third-year student glanced around the vicinity, taking notice of one thing: _emptiness_. Not a single soul roamed, nor sat in the black, leather seats of the train cart. It was awfully strange, yet she felt unfazed by the entire scenario.

Silence was an old friend, after all.

Instead of the normal, announcement bell , the sound of a familiar ringing echoed within the enclosed space that Ayame focused on. _The chimes._

"You have arrived at your destination," a smooth voice went through the speakers as golden letters moved across the black panel: _VELVET ROOM._

'_Since when was there something like this in Hokkaido?_' She thought to herself, watching the double doors slide open. Fog entered through ominously as the brunette saw a dark silhouette , causing her to raise an eyebrow curiously at the mysterious figure. The female immediately stood up from her seat & walked through the sea of mist, unafraid of the consequences. Once passing through, it felt as if time stopped as Ayame stared at a beautiful boy stare at her before turning on his heels to scamper deep into the station.

"Wait!"

A hand extended out as the student began to chase after him. His giggles pierced the atmosphere, playfully toying with the Chouzaburou as he slowly sunk into the mysterious environment. Ayame's eyes darted around the area cautiously. Where in the world could a child, like him, be? She rubbed the back of her neck, turning around the corner to find no one there.

Just like that, the youth was gone in a jiffy & so were her answers.

An exasperated sigh came from the young woman's lips as she stared up. An exquisite, door, lined with various rails in front of vines that adorned every inch of the surface, stood right before her. What kind of office had something this fancy underground? Before she could reach the handle, the entrance unlatched on their own accord. There, a hunched man clasped his hands over each other while staring at her with wide eyes. Almost comparatively to the children's 'googly' decorations that were used for arts & crafts.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. I've been waiting for you, traveler," he snickered under his breath. "Please take a seat, won't you?"

Yet without even thinking, her feet began to move on their own. Ayame waltzed into the room & pulled up a chair with a royal-blue, velvet cushion to sit on after brushing her skirt down. His daring gaze stared into the foreigner's soul once she made direct contact with him. He was an enigma. Something about him couldn't be interpreted, or so she attempted to inspect.

Suddenly, a glimmer of light appeared in his hands, popping a deck of cards one-by-one magically .

"I apologize for the lack of attendants lately. He's still trying to fulfill his duty to me for a great while. Though, I expected him to be here for your arrival… No worries."

She watched as he laid the stack down in front of his odd frame .

"My name is Igor. I am quite pleased to make your acquaintance… " Igor grinned, "You see, this realm exists between _mind_ & _matter_. Generally speaking, it separates _dream_ from _reality_ for those who have forged a contract with us. Only those who have done so are accepted into this room that you've decorated on your own."

Now that the flower individual thought about it, there were windows in different sections of the room with windows of passing subways that intertwined. However, the room hadn't shaken vigorously from the amount of transportations that laid underneath the earth.

"It reflects your heart; shapes it into what you believe it might be. Strangely enough, you believe that fate is always moving. Always changing. A beautiful thought, isn't it?"

He began to lay out the cards in a neatly & organized formation; all face-down in a circle.

"Yet, what becomes of you when you take the wrong path? Do you stop? Or continue?"

His gloved fingertips flipped over the sheet in the middle, revealing _The Fool_. Soon, Igor snapped both his thumb & middle finger together to combine the cards together into a booklet with a contract. Certainly, his magic had been a little hazy to her as Ayame started to doze off uncontrollably.

"What will it be … ?"

The chimes appeared once more in the back of her head.

"I can only hope that I can move on. There isn't any other way to survive but to continue, is there?" Her voice was sweet as honey, yet slightly tired when responding.

Ayame's narrowed tiredly at the folder to find her signature on the bottom . How peculiar… she never picked up a pen, had she? A satisfied chuckle escaped from Igor when he shut his eyes. The more tired she became, the louder the noises had gotten as she lulled herself to sleep.

"… Interesting. I can only see where this may go in the future, but for now… the night is nigh. Until we meet again."

* * *

1/1/XX

'_BAM! POP, POP! KERPOW!'_

Ayame gasped for air as soon as she heard loud explosives, locating where the source could've been from. Her chin rose to meet the sky where an absurd amount of fireworks lit up the night. It ranged form blue, orange, pink, green, & red. How beautiful, wasn't it? She could hear the T.V. screaming as the countdown finished. People from all over the world were cheering as it transitioned to the major cities in Japan.

She had almost forgotten… _it was New Year's_. All the girl wanted was to look at the lights shine in the distance with a peach blanket covering her entire frame as she sat down on a lawn chair from the balcony. Fingers pinched the ends of the cloth, pulling it close to her chin.

The brunette sighed, "Weird… Somehow, I can't remember… what I was dreaming about."

**FORGOTTEN WITH ENDLESS, PALETTE COLOURS.**


	3. Enter, Sweet Butterfly

**FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE THE CULMINATION OF DESIRED INFLUENCES.**

1/12/XX

Nimble fingers laced through the ribbon of her new uniform, tying it neatly to perfection. Hands ran through her brown locks & placed them over her shoulders as she stared at the oval mirror. An unwrinkled button-up shirt & navy-blue blazer that fit the top-half of Ayame's body nicely. Pristine; just how the brunette wanted herself to appear. She heard a slight '_GULP!_' echo as the petite woman's feet backed up to view her entire figure.

'_Was this enough?'_

Concern wavered throughout the female's head as she tugged on her cuffs. Inhale & exhale. There wasn't any need to be afraid, it was just the first day of school.

The girl jolted to the sound of her mother shouting downstairs. "Ayame! Your breakfast is going to get cold!"

All the anxiety built up within Ayame made her forget the most important meal of the day. How careless!

"C-Coming, Okaa-san!"

Ayame took one last look at the reflection, then managed to breath out heavily. This was just fine, the brunette reassured herself before racing out the doorway. Her dominant hand grasped the rails tightly as she glided down the flight of stairs. When the youth finally reached the last step, a woman awaited for her by the kitchen in the narrow hallway.

"I can't believe you, Ayame. Getting down so late!"

She retorted, walking past the beautiful lady. "I was preparing!" Before her was a plate of pancakes entirely coated with maple syrup, just how she liked it.

Even without looking, the brunette could sense that Ganko Chouzaburou was already disappointed. "You know, when I was your age, I used to leave for my first day early! Got everything settled when I was there ahead of time."

"When you were my age, were you anxious as well?" Ayame pouted, grabbing the fork by the dish.

Her mother rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, "Yes, well…" Checkmate. "In any case, you should eat quickly so you could meet your teacher. Introductions shouldn't be too hard, along with making friends as long as you don't get into trouble. Understand?"

"Yes, yes," the child nodded while using the end of the fork to cut the flattened treat into a triangular piece. Silence settled between them momentarily as she picked it up. Her neck craned up to meet Ganko's amber orbitals; something that she inherited from. "Did you have another bad dream last night?"

The older woman's feet allowed the boards underneath her weight to creak, approaching her daughter. A hand rested against the girl's boney shoulder, leaning in to press her plump lips against Ayame's temple. Once she retracted, a gentle smile on their mouth as they shut their bag-filled eyes. "You don't have to worry about that, Ayame. Just focus on getting to school, alright?"

Concern seemed to be evident on the young Chouzaburou's visage, frowning up at Ganko before taking a bite of another slice.

"Okay. Call me if something happens, Okaa-san."

"You know you shouldn't pick up your phone in class."

"Text me then." Ayame kissed her mother's cheek on her tippy toes. A gleeful expression returned on their face, "I'll be going now! You can eat the rest of my portions when I'm away!"

A chuckle brushed from their vocals as she watched her daughter go over to the chair & clutch the handle of her shoulder bag. "I'm off!"

"Stay out of trouble!" Reminded Ganko as the door shut when the brunette walked out.

* * *

Deep breaths. That's all she needed, right? Ayame lifted a hand to meet her chest as she felt her breasts puff in & out. There wasn't anything to be worried about. Yellow-brown hues glanced at the seaside, observing the crisp & serene waters reflecting the sunlight. There was no doubt that Otaru was a quiet, port city. People didn't bother to come out unless they worked at the fisheries, or even headed to school. It was a place that differed drastically compared to her hometown, Sendai.

A warm puff of air parted from the brunette's lips as her feet crunched over the flaky snow, "Beautiful."

To her surprise, several footsteps made their way behind Ayame, seeming to pace faster & faster compared to her rate. She rotated her head to meet the ginger running in the distance, carrying several books & folders in his armhold.

"If I don't get in touch with the principal, my brain's not going to stand his lecture aga━!" He slipped on the frozen ground, heading face-first into the cold, white, powder-like form.

A tear of sweat rolled down the side of her temple. Perhaps, adults could be just as clumsy as children could. She waltzed over to the fallen stranger, bending down to pick up the scattered objects. Groans escaped from their lips as they pressed both arms against the ground, pushing off to sit upwards & massaged the throbbing areas on his face in a circular motion.

"Ite, ite…" The airhead noticed her handing his previous stack, "Ah, thank you…! You're a great help. For a split second, I almost forgot about winter being this cold!"

'_How could you forget about something this distinguishable?!' _Ayame couldn't believe this whatsoever.

"It's alright. Try to be careful next time, alright?"

They sighed, collecting their items from her. "Right, right, right. You sound like my old man. Goodness..." Their green irises scanned over the girl's uniform carefully, widening in astonishment. "You…"

She cocked her head curiously, "Eh?"

"You go to Hokkaido Daiichi High School, do you not?" He gathered himself, standing tall as she did the same. "I haven't seen you around before."

Ayame glanced downwards at her attire & nodded, "I'm actually transferring there."

The man rose a brow, "Oh? Well, I guess I'll be seeing you more often then." He extended his hand outward to the petite female. "I'm Soma Norio, a teacher at the Hokkaido Daiichi."

Eyes widened to the fact that he was an educator for the same school they were approaching to. To think that she'd bump into a _teacher _out of everyone? What a coincidence. She took his hand & gripped it, shaking firmly prior to letting go. Her head slightly dipped out of respect.

"Chouzaburou Ayame. It's nice to meet you, Soma-sensei."

"Why are you following up so late? You should be heading to the teacher's lounge to meet your homeroom teacher right now!"

Was she wrong about the time? No, it couldn't be. Her mother made her leave the house _much _earlier than anticipated. The young lady pulled out her phone from her bag & showed Norio the time on the screen. 06:15.

"I don't think school starts until another thirty minutes, Sensei."

He squinted at the device, then to the watch strapped around his left wrist. "Good heavens! I'm just about an hour ahead!" A hand rose to ruffle his messy, orange locks even further as strands stuck out in different places. Norio sighed in disbelief, knowing he fooled himself as he adjusted the dial of the clock. When finished, the clumsy teacher stared back at her with a sweatdrop rolling down.

"Sorry about that. Forget it ever happened, okay? It'll be like a secret between us." He chuckled nervously, "Well now, I guess we should be going! Would you like to accompany me there in the meantime?"

'Better to go with him incase he doesn't fall again…' The thought of him faceplanting on the ground was far too worrisome to imagine.

She smiled gratefully, "If you don't mind."

* * *

After a few minutes, they stood in front of the department. Scanning the exterior, it wasn't as rundown as Ayame imagined it to be with the black, painted bricks that were recently touched up over the children's winter break. The instructor walked up the stairs along with her, footsteps pacing in a rhythmic pattern as they made their way to the glass doors. His piano fingers curled around the rectangular handle, opening the entrance for her to enter.

"After you," Norio insisted.

She clutched her bag in front of her figure, walking in to view the lockers that extended from both ends of the room. Seven of them, to be exact.

"Amazing… this school holds lots of students," Ayame pointed out.

He nodded, "Doesn't it? Well, I suppose you can take this into account by our sports teams. They're the real reason many students come in here to join them. Winning streaks that spiked into an attraction here."

Hokkaido Daiichi High was known to be one of the best sports schools for tennis, swimming, and archery. Not the explanation to why she moved to this province, but it was quite notable. Ayame followed behind him as they traveled through the bottom of the first floor. From each side, there were a couple of barren clubrooms that were filled with seats, easels, etc. On the opposite side of the floor, a couple of first-year classrooms seemed to be set up traditionally with desks facing the forest-green chalkboards. Soon, she faced forward to find themselves heading towards the last room at the end of the cycle with a small sign in bold: _STAFF ROOM._

"When we get in, wait patiently by my table so I can check the attendance sheet to see which homeroom teacher would be guiding you."

She bobbed her head as they entered & did as he requested. Norio set his pile amongst the other junk scattered across the surface, beginning to scavenge through the folders in his cabinet.

"What year are you in, Chouzaburou-san?"

"Second."

He rose a brow to this answer before flicking through the files, "Second-year, second-year… Found it!" The ginger slapped it on the desk & flipped through every alphabetical page. His finger traced down the names, only to become wide-eyed at the list. Soon, Norio's fist rested against his chin.

"They didn't notify me about a new student in my class…"

Soon, the male stared blankly at her before realizing their presence a moment after.

"A-Ah, my apologies! It looks like you'll be in my classroom! What a coincidence, right?"

"Is that so... ?" It was a peculiar case that _he,_ as a teacher, wasn't aware of her arrival. Ayame merely nodded, letting the careless man slide without any snide remarks. "Well, it'll be nice to have you as my teacher, Soma-sensei."

From the hallway, they heard the light tapping of another individual approaching the room. Their heads immediately turned to the open doorway, pondering who it might be. Yet, to Ayame's surprise, it was a beautiful woman peeking past the frames. Their luscious, titanium-black hair fell over her shoulder, gazing upon them with rust-coloured hues. Beautiful.

"Ah, Soma-san. There you are. I wanted to discuss some matters with you." She glanced at Ayame, "Hm… ? I didn't expect you to have a student this early in the morning."

Norio pushed up his glasses, "I like to come just to hear the news from the principal after all. You never told me that I'd be having a transfer student."

"That's who I was going to talk to you about," she said.

Her piercing eyes scanned the brunette from head-to-toe as she strolled into the room. Having them to have their sights on her felt almost forbidden with that beautiful look. They nodded at the Chouzaburou's delicate appearance, "You're quite on top of things, aren't you?"

Ayame giggled, "I guess the phrase: 'the early bird gets the worm' can be implied about first impressions. Well, in this case."

The woman couldn't help but chuckle while folding her arms over each other. Impressed by their humor, she pulled off a small grin.

"I like this one; a fantastic addition to the school," they noted. "My name is Enomoto Kame, the principal of this school. I hope you'll do great things here."

"Chouzaburou Ayame," the petite girl bowed. "Thank you so much, I really appreciate it."

"Not to worry. You're in good hands with one of the finest teachers here."

Soma adjusted himself, then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I-I don't know about that, Enomoto-san! I'm just your average staff member, you know!"

"He's being modest," Kame stated. "I'll be seeing the two of you later then. It was a pleasure to meet you, Chouzaburou-chan." With a final wave, the ravenette strutted out of the room completely far from their sight. The educator slumped back in his mobile chair, beet red from ear-to-ear. It was evident that the complement struck him down to the core.

"What a woman, isn't she… ?"

Tears of sweat comically poured down the side of her head as she watched the fool slither out of his seat. Ayame couldn't argue about that one. She seemed like a decent principal, at best. Her kindness stood above every other headmaster that the brunette faced before, along with that sweet & reassuring tone. These were just enough to persuade an entire crowd to their feet.

Once he stood upright, he collect the bag that rested underneath the desk. "Shall we go?"

* * *

"Attention, class! We'll be having a new student!"

She could hear the faint whispers outside of the classroom doors when waiting for her cue to enter. The head of the girl's shoes tapped against the wooden tiles, anxious of what came next. Were they going to be relatively nice? Most importantly, was she going to spend the rest of her high school year here _satisfied_?

"Quiet, quiet!" Norio's voice boomed, allowing the class to fall silent immediately. "They've transferred all the way from Sendai. If you all could show some respect for them, that'd be much appreciated."

He cleared his throat, "Could you please come in the room & write your name on the board for us, please?"

This was it━it was now or never. Ayame took a sharp inhale prior to heading inside the classroom, grasping the chalk on the ledge & scribbling her name neatly. The brunette rotated to meet the rest of the twenty-three students in the room.

"My name is Chouzaburou Ayame. Please take care of me, everyone," the transfer introduced herself for the nth time, smiling graciously in their company.

**YET, THESE ARE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT VALUES.**


End file.
